A fit and healthy yoga instructor made the brave decision to go under the knife for a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of cancer – only to be diagnosed with leukaemia the following year.
Sophie Gray, from the UK but living in Australia, was 28 when she found out she carried the BRCA gene which is a common precursor for breast cancer in women.
So she decided to remove her breasts to giver her the best chance of a cancer-free life.
Shortly after she moved to Australia to live her ‘best life’ and told FEMAIL she believed she had ‘dodged a bullet’.
UK born Sophie Gray, pictured, had a preventative double mastectomy at 28 but a year later just two weeks after this photo was taken she was told she had blood cancer
Weeks later she was fighting for her life in hospital and facing the reality of a ‘very scary’ stem cell transplant which would either kill her or give her a chance at life
Now the 31-year-old is determined not to waste the extra life she has been given
But then in 2019 her whole world was turned upside down when routine blood tests revealed she had leukaemia.
‘To be diagnosed a different kind of cancer was a big knock for me. It felt like a big kick in the teeth because I did everything in my power to avoid cancer.
‘To remove my breasts then to be diagnosed with blood cancer was a real blow,’ she admitted.
Before her diagnosis Sophie had been on a holiday in the UK, visiting friends and family and celebrating a loved one’s wedding.
‘I was feeling a little fatigued but put it down to jetlag,’ she said.
‘It is so easy to explain away tiredness and fatigue,’ she warned.
Sophie, now 31, had to undergo chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant and grueling recovery.
It took Sophie a year to ‘feel okay’ after her transplant which left her with the immune system of a newborn
Sophie had to have chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant and countless blood transfusions after being diagnosed
‘It was crazy I got a call about my blood test and was told to present to emergency immediately. I left work at lunch time for a bone marrow biopsy,’ she said.
‘And I was admitted to hospital to start chemo the same day.
‘Everything happened faster than my brain could process it.’
That was in August. Sophie spent a month in hospital before returning in October for a stem cell transplant.
‘I was terrified the whole time because it is such a risky procedure,’ she revealed.
She describes her diagnosis as being like ‘a kick in the teeth’ because she had thought she was dodging cancer with her mastectomy
‘It was such a scary place to be in because the transplant would either be successful and prolong my life or it would be the thing that killed me.
‘But If I didn’t take the chance I would die in a couple of months.
‘I was terrified for my family and trying to put a brave face on as much as I could,’ she said.
Her mum was able to come from the UK to be with her during treatment but being far away from the rest of her family and friends was difficult.
‘I am so glad that my friendship circle here in Australia rallied around me so well,’ she said.
Sophie explained the stem cell transplant totally reset her immune system leaving her susceptible to infections.
Living in Adelaide, Australia, she admits it was difficult to go through her treatment away from her family in the UK but was glad her mum could be with her
These infections could lead to her transplant being rejected by her body at anytime which would kill her or keep her into hospital until another match could be found.
‘If I get any infection I have to go to the hospital quickly because it can become quite serious,’ she said.
‘It happened once last year, I was in hospital for five days while they tried to find the source of the infection and gave me high doses of antibiotics to get rid of it.’
Common germs that cause gastro or common colds can be especially troublesome.
‘It was a total reset, even all my childhood vaccinations were gone. Every bug I have ever developed immunity to could hurt me again,’ she said.
The brave young woman is now in remission and sharing her story to help raise awareness for the disease which left her broken and fighting for life.
‘The road to recovery has been a long one, they warn you it takes 12 months after the transplant to feel okay and it definitely did for me,’ she said.
An incredible ‘before and after diagnosis’ shot shared by Sophie on Instagram shows how she went from a vibrant, healthy-looking young woman to lying in a hospital bed with a feeding tube up her nose facing ‘scary’ treatment options in a matter of weeks.
‘The feeding tube was a low moment for me, I felt so sick and defeated,’ she said.
But Sophie said cancer helped her take control of her future and embrace her dreams.
Now Sophie’s a yoga instructor and will soon work with people with cancer to help them regain a connection with their body
She is now a certified yoga instructor.
‘Cancer was such a big wake up call for me, she said revealing the rapidness in which she went from healthy and ‘dancing until 2am’ to fighting for life was her wakeup call.
‘Life and health are not guaranteed so it has made me focus on the way I want to be living, she said.
‘Being of service and making a positive impact on other people’s lives is important to me and something positive to come out of the whole journey.’
Sophie is working toward being able to offer yoga to cancer patients to help them through their recovery.
‘I want to help other people who are going through what I went through find a connection with their body again,’ she said.
‘The biggest takeaway is that I am now, finally, living the life I always wanted.’
Sophie’s father passed away from cancer when she was 18. She found out she carried the BRCA gene after completing a 23 And Me ancestry test.
She says having common ancestry was a factor in being able to find a donor quickly but many people aren’t that lucky.
Sophie would like people to become registered bone marrow donors and said in most cases donating is as simple as a blood test.
‘People are scared because they think giving bone marrow is painful but in most cases it isn’t done like that anymore,’ she said.